004 (SF Roman)
Albert Heinrich, also known as 004, is one of the secondary characters in the 1978 light novel Cyborg 009: SF Roman. As written by Akiyoshi Sakai, this incarnation of 004 displays some difference to the original character by Shotaro Ishinomori, but is otherwise kept at a minor role compared to 009 and 003. Appearance Albert is a man presumably in his late twenties to early thirties, of average height. As with other incarnations, his most notable features are his entirely white blank eyes and a long, downturned mouth stretching nearly across his entire face. He has short white hair in a bowl-cut style, the even fringe of which falls right above his eyes. Like the rest of the team, he wears the red 00 cyborg uniform and yellow scarf. Personality Compared to Joe, Albert is more openly hardened and cynical, with a dry but wise personality. He is the one who takes it upon himself to retrieve Joe, to let him know the cyborgs are needed once more. He is protective of Francoise and becomes suspicious and annoyed that Joe doesn't think quickly to protect her during the Poseidon being caught up in the submarine shoot-out. He also instantly declares Helena to be an enemy and a spy, with Francoise gladly backing him up on the accusation. He shows pleasure in Helena's suffering when he subjects her to the "oxygen test" in the cold ocean, which brings him into conflict with Joe, who insists she be spared. Later on, he also shows himself to be receptive to Francoise's feelings towards Joe, with it being suggested part of his hostility towards Helena was also due to Joe neglecting to notice her cues. He insists for Joe to "understand 003's feelings more". When Francoise believes Joe to have died via the Cyborg Men and wishes to not move forward to the Black Ghost base, he is the one to urge her to move forward, telling her that Joe wouldn't be pleased if she gave up and that they must work together as a team. Abilities As with other incarnations, Albert has a machine gun for a right hand and an electromagnetic knife in his left hand. His knees would also presumably contain missile launchers, though it is uncertain if he would also bear the atomic bomb in his abdomen. History His history before his abduction by Black Ghost remains unsaid, although it could be figured it may loosely follow his manga origin in some regard. Five years after the assumed defeat of the organization, Albert would be directed by Dr. Gilmore to go retrieve Joe from Japan, and the two would travel to the new "Green Coral Reef" castle base in the Marshall Islands, and then split to gather the other team members. At the battle in the Sea of Ohkhotsk, he did what he could to keep Francoise out of harm's way as the Poseidon got shaken and attacked by enemy submarines. Upon the discovery of a young woman named Helena, the sister of the missing MiG 28 pilot Petrov, Albert instantly became suspicious towards her and would deem the Black Ghost spy sharks and jellyfish attacking the Poseidon to have been sent by her. He insisted on subjecting Helena to an oxygen test out in the ocean, seeing if she could survive 30 minutes with low oxygen and in the intense cold and turbulence of the ocean water. This test was cut short by Joe's refusal to let it go on any further, as Helena was clearly suffering from the effects of the water. Even so, Albert figured that if the spy weren't Helena, it had to be someone on the team, and an intense distrust and suspicion swept over the members. During the travel to the underground base of Black Ghost, Helena was made to stay behind on the Poseidon by Francoise, but Albert would soon be alerted to her scream and find her missing. As Albert, Joe, and Francoise went to search for her, a pair of cyborgs calling themselves "0011" attacked, shocking him with their electrical abilities and leaving Joe to have to defeat them. Albert was left to recuperate on the Poseidon, and after Helena was believed to have been a spy after all, Joe had apologized to him for creating drama. But for Albert, the only thing he wished for was for Joe to realize how Francoise felt towards him. Little did both men know, Francoise was eavesdropping on them from outside the sickroom. After Joe was believed dead in a shoot-out with Cyborg Men and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, Albert encouraged Francoise to keep moving forward, and the team attempted to continue their travel towards the base but wound up caught by Black Ghost soldiers and imprisoned in an electromagnetic cell. When the 00 team was freed via Helena's sacrifice against her brother Petrov (now "0010"), Albert and the others quickly found that Francoise was attempting to slaughter them with her Super Gun, and would learn that she had been brainwashed by Black Ghost into being the cause of the suspicious events on the Poseidon, to frame Helena and bring her into the organization as her brother had been. Joe would manage to destroy the brains that were controlling Francoise, but the team was left trapped in the base. Thanks to Ivan/001's teleportation ability and an escape rocket being within the base, the team were able to make it out to safety. Notes * Albert catching on to Francoise's true feelings for Joe reflects their moment at the end of the Yomi arc in the manga. * At the time Ishinomori had drawn the illustrations, the short bowl-cut hairstyle had been fallen back into fashion for 004, though it would soon be phased out for the slightly longer hairstyle seen on more modern incarnations and the later manga. Category:Cyborgs Category:Male characters Category:Light Novel Characters